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Heartbreak for Glory youngsters

Perth Glory conceded a stoppage time goal, to lose 2-1 against Inglewood United in Week 17 of the PS4 National Premier League WA at Inglewood Stadium on Saturday.

David Sesay gave the home side the lead, but the Glory youngsters hit back moments later through Dejan Spaseski. It looked the points would be shared, but Keogh had other ideas to score from close range.

Spaseski said to lose a goal late really hurt, but said they have to learn to run out games.

“It was good to score but it didn’t get us anywhere in the end so it’s disappointing,” Spaseski said. “Maturity, obviously experience plays a big part and we’ve got a young squad and we’ll learn and hopefully grow from there.

“We’ll just keep working at training, work at what we’ve always done and we’ve just got to be more switched on at important parts in the game.”

To concede so late was a huge disappointment for coach John Gibson, but he said the performance was solid and it was good see one his young player play their first game of the season after injury.

“Absolutely gutted for the group today, they competed really hard today, against a strong Inglewood side, but we lacked concentration and were punished,” Gibson said.

“We spoke before the game on how we wanted to play and the lads controlled the game and the tempo for large periods, but we showed a lack of maturity late and conceded a needless goal.”

“It was great for young Jesse Lazzaro today, who played his first start back from injury and was good in the middle of the park, the run in the starting side will give him confidence going forward.”

The coach said the Inglewood side was full of experienced players, and it showed when it mattered, but he saw signs the Glory youngsters are coming to terms with playing at this level.

“The likes of Aleks Vrteski, Jovo Pavlovic, David Micevski and Andrija Jukic, are good individuals and make the right decisions, and that’s something you don’t learn quickly,” he said.

“Our side is constantly improving, and we are more competitive this season, but we will learn from this, but today was a real harsh learning experience."

The first half was a real arm wrestle with both sets of defenders in command; with both skippers Jacob Collard and Jovo Pavlovic marshaling their back fours well. Micevski went the closest for the home side, his curling free kick crashing off the crossbar and away to safety.

The Glory threatened when a long ball over the top caused confusion in the Inglewood defence, and Vrteski’s clearance hit Stefan Valentini, but the ball rolled agonizingly wide of the target. But five minutes before the break the home side hit the front. David Sesay made space on the edge of the box, held off his marker and fired home superbly past Jordan Franken.

But that didn’t deter the Glory youngsters, and they showed great character to hit straight back. Spaseski found a pocket of space on the edge of the penalty area and played a one-two with Nikola Talimdzioski, and he finished clinically past Vrteski.

Glory were now on top and could have gone into the break ahead. Valentini header from four meters was goal bound, but Vrteski was alert to fingertip the ball over the top.

Both sides had early chances after the break. Micevski’s shot on the run was saved by Franken, while Jacob Collard’s free kick whistled over the top.

The Glory lost defender Nathan Costello with an injury on 65 minutes and two minutes later Inglewood almost levelled.

Keogh burst into the area with just Franken to beat, but the Glory custodian stood tall to save. Micevski thought he had scored late on, his header lobbed over Franken, but Glory defender Gian Albano was alert to superbly clear the ball off the line.

It looked like the point would be shared but with the clock ticking to 93 minutes, Inglewood scored the winner. Glory midfielder Calvin Whitney failed to clear, and Keogh pounced. He played a one-two with Micevski and fired home, much to the anguish of Glory players and coaches.

In other results on the day, Callum Salmon’s under 18’s were beaten 4-2 in an entertaining game against Inglewood, meanwhile Bobby Despotovski’s under 20’s continued to top the table, despite being held to a 1-1 draw by Inglewood, with Alex Taneski again on target.